Anjali's Food Kaleidoscope

Date muffins

There is a unique connection between  this season of festivity and baking. I am sure there are delicious christmas cakes being baked in many many homes.I too want to join in , so what if its with just simple date muffins.
Wishing you warm winter moments and a very happy new year

Ingredients:

1.      100 grams butter at room temperature

2.       ½ cup powder sugar

3.       ½ cup chopped dates ( deseeded)

4.      1 cup flour

5.   1 teaspoon baking powder

6.    ¼  teaspoon  soda

7.    1 teaspoon vanilla essence

8.      2 eggs

9.    12 to 14 small muffin cups

Method:

1.   Beat the butter and sugar till creamy.

2.    Add the eggs one at a time and beat gently with a egg beater or a whisk.
    The reason I use the whisk in the photographs is that I know of many people who are following my blog , some of them had even attended the baking classes that I have held, now they have not yet invested in an egg beater and I don't want them to hurry and buy it. A lot many cakes can be prepared with a simple whisk or even a wooden spoon. So don't cramp your style, use anything thing to blend the ingredients, but make sure its in one direction only.

3.   Sift the flour with the baking powder and the soda and add one tablespoon at a time into the egg mixture, but reserve one tablespoon to dust the dates.

4.  I found the dates too sticky and lumpy after chopping them so I rolled them in the reserved flour and made about 14  small balls .

5.   Beat the mixture and fold in the dates very gently and do not beat the batter now.
    Now I  must add here that the muffin batter does not have the flowing consistency like the cake batter, its a  lot thicker than that.
    The reason why we dust the chopped dates in the flour is that if we don't the the dates will settle down to the bottom of your muffins or the cakes.

6.   Spoon into the muffin cups lined with the paper cases ( you don't have to grease them, I used 14 small cups here and the batter was sufficient for that number. I placed the cups on an aluminium tray and placed the tray in the oven.

7.   Preheat the oven at 180° and place the muffin tray and bake for 18- 20 minutes. ( I baked for exactly 18 minutes and took out the tray immediately). after the muffins cooled I gently lifted them out of the aluminium cups.

8.   Enjoy the muffins with a hot cup of masala chai.